


Mungo Must Go

by Rumple_Tina



Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber, Old Possum's Book of Practical Cats - T. S. Eliot
Genre: Gen
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-04-20
Updated: 2020-04-20
Packaged: 2021-03-02 05:29:01
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,038
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/23759881
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Rumple_Tina/pseuds/Rumple_Tina
Summary: Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer have been sent to time out in the library. But when Mungojerrie has to get out quickly, Rumpleteazer is less than helpful.
Comments: 1
Kudos: 14





	Mungo Must Go

It was raining outside, and the two notorious cats, Mungojerrie and Rumpleteazer, had been scolded for stealing a particularly succulent joint of beef from the kitchens. Now they'd been shut in the library with nothing to do to amuse them. They'd already made a good job of wrecking the place as much as they thought they could get away with without being punished further and now they were lying together in a bored heap on a pile of torn pages.

"'Jerrie, if you don't stop shiftin' abou', I'll 'urt ya," Rumpleteazer grumbled. She was trying to nap and her twin's restless wriggling was starting to get on her nerves. Mungojerrie sighed with frustration.

"It ain't my fault," he retorted. Then he stopped abruptly, unsure whether to let on to his sister the problem that was making him fidget. Rumpleteazer rolled her eyes and settled into him, trying to get comfortable. Mungojerrie made the effort to keep his movements to a minimum, but as the minutes passed, his restlessness increased.

Eventually, Rumpleteazer had had enough, and she elbowed him in the side, prompting a groan from her brother that was quite disproportionate to the force of the nudge. This worried Rumpleteazer, and she scrambled back a couple of inches.

"'Jer, what's wrong?" she asked, anxiously, her face full of concern. Mungojerrie glanced at her worried expression and decided that it would be too cruel to let her think anything serious was the matter.

"I-it's nothin', Teaze," he assured her. "It's just, it woulda been nice if the family 'ad left a litter tray in here with us is all."

"Oh," Rumpleteazer looked relieved and a little disappointed that it wasn't anything more exciting. Mungojerrie squirmed a little - now that he'd revealed what the problem was it was if anything harder to keep still. Rumpleteazer's eyes suddenly lit up with mischief, "Oh." she said again, more enthusiastically.

Mungojerrie saw the change in his sister's expression and he felt a sense of dread engulf him. Under normal circumstances he'd be entirely onboard with any of his sister's dastardly plots, but right now he had other things on his mind and his sister's scheming seemed to be directed at him and his... predicament.

"'Teaze, whatever it is you're plannin', I'm not in the mood," he cautioned, hoping she would look past the ridiculousness of his movements and understand how serious he was. No such luck - no sooner had the sentence been said, than he was attacked by a flying ball of fluff that was his sister. Before he knew what had happened, Rumpleteazer had him tackled and pinned. Mungojerrie's eyes widened, he knew what was coming next. He tried once more to reason with his sister. "Please, Teazah, I don't wan' this."

"No-one ever wants ta be tickled, Jerrie," Rumpleteazer told him matter-of-factly, an evil smirk making her lips twitch. Although neither of them were bad cats, their time working for Macavity, the Feline Napoleon of Crime, had given them both a ruthlessness that they mostly tried to temper. Every so often, however, it came out. And unfortunately for Mungojerrie, Rumpleteazer was in a ruthless mood.

She tickled him. Despite his pleading, despite his threatening and despite his thrashing. Jerrie would normally have tried to hold back his laughter as much as possible, so as not to give her the satisfaction of breaking him, and he'd usually have been able to countertickle her in return making the tickle fight a more even game. But today it was all he could do to keep from utterly embarrassing himself and this was taking all of his effort and concentration, leaving little left to retaliate with. He just laughed and squirmed.

It wasn't long before Rumpleteazer noticed the difference between this and other tickle fights she'd had with her brother. This one was less fun, and more... one-sided. She stopped her attack, but Mungojerrie didn't stop squiggling.

"Teaze," he gasped, "Lemme up, I'll ... I dunno ... I'll do anythin' ya want."

Rumpleteazer had already decided not to keep tickling, but this was too good an opportunity to let pass. "Well... alrigh'. But, next time Munkustrap or Skimble scolds us, you gotta take all the responsibili'y."

Mungojerrie pouted a little but he had to agree, "You're a righ' brat sometimes, ya know that. But yeah. Alrigh'. Next time we's in trouble with eithah of them two, I'll take all the blame. Now ge' off me."

As soon as Rumpleteazer let him up, Jerrie scampered to the closed library door. It was far too heavy for them to open, even when they both tried together, but it wasn't soundproof. Frantically, Jerrie scratched on the expensive, polished wood of the doorframe and yowled at the top of his lungs.

"Let me ou'! Ya gotta let me out! Ya can't leave me in 'ere forevah!"

Rumpleteazer joined him. "Sorry, Jer," she said, although she only sounded half sorry, "I didn't realise quite how bad it was."

"It weren't this bad before ya tickled me," Jerrie complained and then resumed his caterwaul.

Rumpleteazer was never one to pass on a good caterwaul, so she took up position next to Jerrie and scratched and mewed as loudly as she could.

It wasn't long before the mother of the family came to see what all the fuss was about.

"Right, you horrible cats, what's going on in here?" As she spoke, she opened the door and stepped through.

"Run, Jerrie!" Rumpleteazer called to him. "I'll hold 'er off!" Mungojerrie didn't need to be told twice.

"I owe you one!" he called over his shoulder as he skittered through the mother of the family's legs.

"Rumpleteazer, you get back here!" the mother of the family called after him. "Or was that Mungojerrie?" she mused as Rumpleteazer rubbed herself against the mother of the family's ankle. The mother of the family bent down to pick up Rumpleteazer and noticed the scratchmarks on the library door. "You two really are the most horrible cats," she cooed as she lifted Rumpleteazer into her arms. Rumpleteazer pawed the air near the mother of the family's face and purred softly. The mother of the family smiled at her indulgently, "But there's nothing at all to be done about that."


End file.
